Part 1 of the Architecture and Film course series, “Do Architects Dream of Celluloid Buildings?” (2.0 hour) reviews the seductive correspondence between cinema and architecture. Over the last four decades, the film-architecture analogy and startling technological advances, mostly deriving from computer science, have blurred the distinction between cinema and architecture. Collectively, this tends to obscure the most important aspect, which is architecture’s impact on the dual aims of cinema, e.g. narrative and technology. Part I reviews the conceptual, historical and technological relation between cinema and architecture. The “Architecture and Film” course series more closely examines the frequent role of the built environment in creatively reinforcing or subverting expectations of the audience about cinematic narratives. Click here to purchase this course ($14.99).

Includes a two-hour video presentation and PDFs of the course supplementary material and slide handout.

Part 1 Film and Television TopicsThe Wizard of Oz, A Trip to the Moon, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, The Hunger Games, Friends, New Girl, Planet of the Apes, Alice in Wonderland, Star Trek, To Kill a Mockingbird, Back to the Future, Westworld, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Jurassic Park, The Wedding Singer, The Terminator, Babylon 5, Captain America, Avatar, Battlestar Galactica, It’s a Wonderful Life, Zelig, Forrest Gump, Jupiter Rising, Toy Story, Tron, Resident Evil, Total Recall, The Matrix, A Scanner Darkly, Contagion, American Psycho, Metropolis, Blade Runner

Please note there may be a delay for a couple of hours before you are able to access the course because we have to confirm receipt of payment for each order before completing the purchase.

About the Instructor

Dr. Mark David Major, AICP, CNU-A is an architect and planner with extensive experience in urban planning and design, business management and real estate development, and academia. He is a Professor of Urban Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Mark has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Florida, Georgia Tech, Architectural Association in London, the University of São Paulo in Brazil, and Politecnico di Milano in Italy.

The Architecture and Film (6.0 hour version) course series covers the relation, if any, between cinema and architecture. Of all the fine arts, cinema and architecture seem to uniquely correspond due to their natures as both an art and a science. The course series more closely examines the role that the built environment often plays in creatively reinforcing or subverting expectations of the audience about cinematic narratives. Part I reviews the conceptual, historical and technological correspondence between cinema and architecture. Parts II and III reviews filmmakers’ use of architectural typologies of space and form to craft distinctive film-grammars in service to cinematic narratives. Key concepts: film, narrative, artificial intelligence, CGI, technology, simulation, scale, historical precedent, architectural typology, and hyper-reality. Available soon to separately purchase as 2.0 hour courses ($14.99 each) or a 6.0 hour course series package ($39.99).

Part I: Do Architects Dream of Celluloid Buildings? (2.0 hour version)
– the seductive correspondence between cinema and architecture

Part II: The Architectural Competence in Film (2.0 hour version)
– the rules of film-grammars for cinematic built environments

Part III: The Best of Both Worlds (2.0 hour version)
– case studies in science fiction/fantasy films and television

The American City, Part 3: Learning from the Grid featuring Dr. Mark David Major is now available from Planetizen Courses. The course is approved for 0.75 professional development credits with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and Congress for New Urbanism (CNU).

The American City, Part 3: Learning from the Grid
The course covers the formal composition and spatial process of the American urban grid. The course demonstrates a well-defined spatial logic to how American cities tend to evolve over time, conserving the importance of the “center” (e.g., historical area and/or Central Business District) in relation to the ever-expanding edges. By understanding these concepts, we can better understand how “bedrock” urban attributes (such as block size and dwelling entrances) and common growth trends (such as strip malls and leapfrog development) play a role in the spatial logic of American cities. The objective of this course is to better understand the spatial implications of design decisions when intervening in the American city.

Click here to purchase the course by subscribing to Planetizen Courses.

The American City, Part 2: The Invention of a New Scale featuring Dr. Mark David Major is now available from Planetizen Courses. The course is approved for 0.75 professional development credits with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and Congress for New Urbanism (CNU).

The American City, Part 2 | The Invention of a New Scale
The course covers subjects related to land consumption, which has been a defining characteristic of American town building almost from the very beginning of colonization until the present-day. William Penn’s 1682 plan for Philadelphia demonstrated town building could occur on a previously unimagined scale in the abundant lands of the New World. The course also compares the characteristics of block and street length in several American and European cities to demonstrate how Americans used the regular grid to build on a massive scale in the horizontal dimension of the city, which suburban sprawl has accentuated and abused since World War II. Finally, the course also discusses implications for sustainable cities in the 21st century.

Click here to purchase the course by subscribing to Planetizen Courses.

The American City, Part 1 | A Brief History of the Regular Gridfeaturing Dr. Mark David Major is now available from Planetizen Courses. The course is approved for 0.75 professional development credits with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) Watch an extended preview below.

The American City, Part 1 | A Brief History of the Regular Grid
The course is about the when, where, and why of regular grid planning around the world—from Ancient India to the New World—arguing that its independent emergence in different parts of the world is a generic consequence of placing dwellings in a settlement. The transmission of the regular grid, traceable from one society to another over the last 4,500 years, also demonstrates its effectiveness as a utilitarian tool for planning. The course concludes by reviewing the myths surrounding the regular grid, including its role in fostering the ideals of the American Dream. The objective of this course is to understand how and why the regular grid has been a standard part of the town planning vocabulary around the world for nearly five millennia.

Click here to purchase the course by subscribing to Planetizen Courses.

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About The Outlaw Urbanist

Dr. Mark David Major, AICP, CNU-A is an architect, urban planner and designer, entrepreneur, and researcher with several years of experience in the built environment, urbanism, business management, real estate development, and academia in Europe and the United States.

Copyright and Disclaimer

The views expressed on The Outlaw Urbanist website, Twitter feed, or any other mode of social media are solely those of Dr. Mark David Major, AICP, CNU-A in his private capacity. They do not in any way necessarily represent the views of Qatar University, the College of Engineering, or the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, and any other business or agency.

Notice: All images on The Outlaw Urbanist website, Twitter feed, or any other mode of social media are the property of Mark David Major, The Outlaw Urbanist, and/or used under Fair Use laws for educational purposes, where applicable.